Philosophy & ThoughtGreek → English
Deontology
/ˌdiɑnˈtɑlədʒi/noun
Ethics that judges acts by rules and duties rather than by their consequences.
The Greek roots
δέον
déon
that which is binding, duty
λόγος
lógos
study, account
Literally: “study of what must be done”
The story of the word
Jeremy Bentham coined the word, and his Deontology was published in 1834, two years after he died and with his sceptical editor's hand all over it. The irony is thorough: Bentham was the founder of utilitarianism, and the term he built now names the school that stands against him, Kant's position that some acts are forbidden whatever good follows. δέον is the neuter participle of the impersonal δεῖ, it is necessary, so the word literally studies the must.
- How it travelled
- Ancient Greek → scientific coinage → English
- First recorded
- 19th century
Same family
deonticdeontological
In a sentence
Ask a deontologist to lie to save a life and you get an argument, not an answer.